‘Archery! Archery? Who the hell wants to watch Archery?’ Sana thought when her ticket came through in the post. For Sana, Archery was one of the more boring Olympic sports. She wanted to attend one event and one event only. Gymnastics. But not just any Gymnastics, it had to be the Artistic Gymnastics. She can remember watching Mina when she was younger performing many routines on the floor. The elegance she possessed when she was using the ribbon, tied in with the ballet elements and the gymnastics. It was all perfection, but Mina couldn’t live her dream of being a gymnast. Not after the injury she suffered. The break of the ankle from the one tumble she took and she was never the same again.

 

Sana was brought back from her trip down memory lane by her phone ringing. She picked up her phone and answered the call. “Hello?”

 

“Hey Satang!” a voice came from the other end of the phone. “Mitang and I have just had our tickets come through.”

 

“That’s great Momoring, what are you going to be watching?” Sana asked.

 

“You know what we are going to be watching, we are all going to the Artistic gymnastics,” Momo said with glee.

 

Sana’s heart dropped. The one opportunity she had to go to the Olympics with her two best friends, and she was going to see something different than what her friends were and what the three of them were destined to watch. “About that.” Sana nervously giggled.

 

“What do you mean ‘about that’?” Momo replied.

 

“Well, you see, I wasn’t able to get an Artistic Gymnastics ticket.” Sana’s tone saddened.

 

“What do you mean you didn’t get Artistic Gymnastics, what sport did you get instead?” Momo was curious.

 

“Archery,” Sana replied.

 

“Archery? How on earth did you get Archery?” Momo was stunned.

 

“I don’t know,” Sana answered.

 

“Well, you must have done something different to me and Mitang for you to get Archery.” Momo went through the application process details again with Sana, with Sana saying yes to everything Momo asked. At least she was, until one thing. “You did remember to select Artistic Gymnastics didn’t you?”

 

“I’m sure I ticked that box.” Sana was adamant she had.

 

“And did you tick the box at the bottom saying ‘if the event became full, then you will be randomly drawn into an event’?” Momo asked.

 

‘That’s it. That’s what I did.’ Sana remembered. “Yes, I did tick that option.” Everything was now piecing together in Sana’s mind.

 

“Well, that must be why you are at Archery then. The Artistic Gymnastics must be full so you got put into a random draw and got selected for Archery,” Momo explained.

 

“Well, maybe someone will drop out and hand their ticket back. Then I can join you two in the gymnasium,” Sana hoped.

 

“You can try waiting for that Sana,” Momo said, “But if not, you will then have a decision to make.”

 

“Whether I hand in my ticket or I go to Archery to say I attended the Olympics in my home country,” Sana thought aloud.

 

“Exactly,” Momo agreed. “We can’t make that choice for you if you weren’t able to get a ticket to be with us — that will all rely on you and how you are feeling.”

 

“I guess you are right`, Momoring. Thank you,” Sana said as she ended the phone call. This was just the beginning of her efforts to get to where she wanted to be.

 

-------

 

“Tzuyu! Tzuyu!” someone called, getting louder the closer they ran towards Tzuyu.

 

“Hey, Chae,” she said to the shorter girl. “How was your weekend?”

 

“Mine was okay, but that doesn’t matter.” Chaeyoung didn’t stop running until she had her hands firmly around Tzuyu’s hips. “You won the tournament this weekend. That’s amazing.”

 

Tzuyu chuckled. “I guess it is pretty amazing, but I still finished just outside on the rankings for the Olympics.” Tzuyu loosened Chaeyoung’s grip from around her.

 

“I know you are a little disappointed, Tzuyu, but hey,” Chaeyoung smiled. “There’s always a next time, and besides, we have a job to teach these kids how to become top archers as you will be.”

 

Chaeyoung and Tzuyu turned to see all the kids that were attending their class getting ready by the bows. “Well then, I guess it’s time for us to teach them.” Tzuyu smiled as the pair walked over.

 

The kids that were running around all stopped as they saw Tzuyu and Chaeyoung walking towards them.

 

“Good morning kids, are we ready to learn some archery?” Chaeyoung shouted.

 

“Yes!” The kids screamed, deafening Tzuyu and Chaeyoung.

 

“Well that’s good then, let’s get star--” Tzuyu was interrupted as she heard a phone. She looked around trying to work out where the ringtone was coming from, when she realised it was coming from her pocket. ‘How unprofessional,’ Tzuyu thought as she saw a number she didn’t recognise from back home in Taiwan. “Do you mind if I take this?” Tzuyu asked Chaeyoung.

 

“No, not at all. Go ahead.” Chaeyoung continued talking to the class as Tzuyu stepped away from the group and took the phone call.

 

“Hello?” Tzuyu answered the phone.

 

“Good morning, is this Miss Chou Tzuyu?” The person on the phone asked.

 

“Yes, who’s speaking?” Tzuyu asked.

 

“My name is Im Nayeon and I am calling you from the Olympic select committee for Chinese Taipei here in Taiwan,” Nayeon informed Tzuyu.

 

“Oh, hi there. I think there has been a mistake though because I didn’t qualify for the Olympics,” Tzuyu told Nayeon.

 

“No, Tzuyu, this is not a mistake. We are calling you to tell you that you have got a place on the Archery team for the Olympics in Tokyo, Japan in six months time.” Nayeon could sense Tzuyu’s shock.

 

“B-But how? How is this possible?” Tzuyu stuttered, struggling to come to terms with the news.

 

“One of our other archers has suffered an unfortunate injury and is out for the rest of the year, so the next best ranked archer qualifies in their place, and said archer, Tzuyu, is you.” Nayeon grinned.

 

“So, I’m going,” Tzuyu started.

 

“Yes,” Nayeon agreed.

 

“To the Olympics,” Tzuyu continued.

 

“Yes,” Nayeon once again agreed.

 

“In Tokyo, in six months time,” Tzuyu finished.

 

“Yes, Miss Tzuyu, that is correct,” Nayeon said.

 

“I am honoured, Miss Im.” Tzuyu started crying. “I will represent the country with pride and give my all.”

 

“That is all we can ask of you.” Nayeon smiled. “Now, I’ll let you get back to your day Tzuyu. Enjoy your day. Goodbye.”

 

“Thank you, goodbye.” Tzuyu ended the call. Tzuyu stood still in a state of shock. She couldn’t believe that she would be going to the Olympic Games, something she had dreamed about doing, in six months time.

 

“Hey, is everything alright?” a voice came from behind Tzuyu, as a hand rested on her shoulder.

 

“I did it,” Tzuyu said softly.

 

“You did what?” Her friend asked.

 

“I did it Chae, I qualified.” Tzuyu turned to face her best friend. “I’m going to the Olympics.”

 

“Really?” Chae exclaimed. “You really made it?”

 

“I really made it.” Tzuyu nodded as the pair jumped around, unable to contain their sheer joy.

 

All the kids looked over at the two overly excited girls. “Uh… Miss Son, my arrow doesn’t seem to be going where I want it to go,” One of them called out.

 

“Okay Elkie, we’ll be right over,” Chaeyoung called back. “Maybe an olympic athlete can teach them a thing or two,” Chaeyoung teased as she sent a couple of poking jabs to Tzuyu’s stomach.

 

“Stop it,” Tzuyu giggled. “Besides, I haven’t been there yet so I’m technically not an olympic athlete.”

 

“Yeah, but you are soon to be one,” Chaeyoung insisted. “Besides, you better be taking me out there,” Chaeyoung joked.

 

“Of course, I wouldn’t leave you to watch it on TV, would I?” Tzuyu said, her smile beaming.

 

“I was only joking Tzuyu,” Chaeyoung insisted.

 

“I'm not, Chae, so prepare yourself because in six months, you are going to be in Japan watching me at the Olympic Games,” Tzuyu said, still in disbelief at that last part. ‘Me at the Olympic Games. Crazy!’

-------

 

‘My last chance,’ Sana thought as she turned away from the ticket kiosk. ‘After six months, I’ve got to keep holding onto the tiny bit of hope I have.’ But her hope was at an all time low. She had one final chance to get a ticket for the Artistic Gymnastics; otherwise she would have a choice to make and it was one she didn’t want to have to do in the first place.

 

Sana walked along the street that lead back towards her home, kicking a small stone along the pathway, as if it was some sort of small ball, trying to find some sort of spirit that would help her feel better. It didn’t take too long for her to find the local bar she usually drank in.

 

‘I guess I could have one drink,’ Sana thought looking at her phone and seeing that it was only just after seven in the evening. Sana walked towards the bar called ‘The Green Pheasant,’ entering the small building, which was busier than usual. But she somehow spotted an empty seat at the bar and promptly headed over.

 

“Can I have one medium Merlot, please,” Sana asked as she took a seat waiting for the barman to pour her the wine she ordered.

 

“Here you go ma’am,” the barman said as he gave Sana her red wine.

 

“Thank you.” Sana smiled as she took the glass to her lips, tilting it slightly to allow the alcohol to slowly start trickling into .

 

Meanwhile, Chaeyoung and Tzuyu had just gotten out of a taxi near the ticket kiosk after a day of sightseeing. “Look Tzuyu, there's a bar down there, let’s go get a good luck drink for tomorrow,” Chaeyoung said whilst taking Tzuyu’s arm, trying to pull her toward the bar.

 

Tzuyu stopped and pushed Chaeyoung’s hand off her arm. “Chae, I can’t. You